Notice Board

2018 Annual Seminar

TSC Director and Senior Vice President Sandro Perticarini began the day’s proceedings by welcoming new members to the Premier Branch in Australia. Sandro provided a brief background of the TSC’s vast refereeing experience and knowledge and explained the TSC projects and initiatives for 2018.

He explained that the topics for the day were a result of the survey of referees conducted last year and encouraged members to participate in future surveys.

President Robert Colombo was up next and gave a hearty opening address welcoming all members, guests and presenters.

Physical Training Coordinator John Parker gave a brief overview of the current training schedule for 2018 and the state of the latest Fitness Tests of which two had already been conducted.

TSC member John Bowdler followed and conducted an excellent refresher presentation of the Changes to The Laws Of The Game with much group discussion being generated. With IFAB having introduced several amendments and interpretations to the major changes in 2017. These amendments will effective 2019 FNSW competitions and the information John provided was very helpful to members.

John Bowdler, in his role as FNSW Appointments Officer, gave a brief talk on Appointments for 2018 and asked members to update their status in "Horizon" (Appointments Scheduling Web Based System) as to their availability. With trial games now in full swing and the NPL competition starting in early March John needs plenty of members to officiate on games.

Secretary Wayne Lenardon gave us a current membership status stating that about 50% had rejoined and paid their registration fees through MyFootballClub. He also explained that all members must have a currect Working with Children numbers and that the branch needs to know what it is. He encourage members to utilise the many forms on our website fot meeting attendances, apologies, training, etc. He also stressed the need to wear our uniform sponsor’s gear to matches, meetings and at functions.

Assistant Secretary James Tesoriero was next up explain the differences in Offside interpretation when considering whether there is a deflection or tha ball is played by a defender. This was an interesting topic which was very helpful for the members present on the day.

A League and FNSW referee of the year Kurt Ams followed with a detailed presentation on "Working with Players". Kurt explained the methods he uses to gain respect and rapport the players when he was controlling a game. He highlighted using more than just the whistle as a communication tool - using body language, his voice and eyes to assit in controlling te game. He provided many valuable examples on how positive refereeing could assist the referee to manage difficult players and incidents during a game. He had the Seminar thinking differently about game situations and provided tips on smart refereeing. He showed several images and examples of what he meant and this greatly assisted in getting the point accross. His presentation was well received by the members and they showed it with a rowdy applause as he returned to his seat.

A quick stretch of the legs as we adjourned for morning tea and some networking before we returned to hear FFA Referees Director Ben Wilson speaking on the Nationa Pathways available for referees and assessors to progress through the ranks to an Elite Refereeing status. Ben also explained how the VAR was used and how it was working overall being called upon in one in four games to confirm or over rule decisions. He highlighted the red and yellow cards being successfully utilised when dealing with coaches and officials in the technical area. He also explained how the sin bin rule would work in those competitions that took it up. His presentation seemed to be well received and commented that it was pleasing to see so many members (over 120) attending the seminar.

TSC member Richard Lorenc took to the floor for the topic of Tactical Fouls and explained how they were used in matches for many reasons from stopping players (SPA) through to time wasting. Very good video clip examples were shown that provided a better understanding of how players and coaches used tactical fouls and how to recognise them. He utilised audience members to generate questions and to get points accross which aided in getting the message accross and explaining how to manage them.

TSC member Gary Power introduced Strebre Delovski, Simon Mecallef (both ex FIFA and National Referees) and Stephen Lucas (current A League referee) to talk about "Surviving at the Top" and the attributes required to do that. Each provided three things that helped them maintain their concentration and stay focused on the task in hand. Several examples of techniques that they used or currently use in the case of Stephen to maintain consistency and stay on top of their game when refereeing. Informative and useful ideas and techniques were given to the members which they can try to in corporate into their match control.

Gary Power then introduced current W League and A League members Sarah Ho, Kearney Robinson together with ex FIFA AR's Kevin Humphreys and John Bowdler to talk on "Success as an AR". Gary again asked them to provide three things that have helped them on their refereeing journey. Fitness, training, concentration and communication skills were highlighted which each providing different approaches as to how they maintained consistency and remained successful as an AR. Again their comments were well received by the members in attendance and very helpful information was provided to assist members who wished to specialise as AR's. It was emphasised how much more that today's AR has to do to assist the referee in today's modern game.

Gary Power then gave an informative presentation on “Goal Setting 2018” in which he explained the importance of reviewing yourself and creating a success plan. He emphasised that you honestly had to rate yourself and where you wanted to go. Creating a plan and the journey to your destination is very important when trying to plan a career in refereeing; only you can look at your long term goals your medium goals and your goals for this year. This topic was well received with Gary's presentation delivered in his usual inimitable style.

Sandro Perticarini brought a very informative and well-constructed seminar to a close and thanked all members and presenters for their participation. The members adjourned to a hearty lunch and some networking with many discussing the day’s events and topics.

Our Assessors and Instructors returned for an Assessors seminar conducted by Roger Doenau. Various topics were discussed with an emphasis on report writing and the importance of a detailed running sheet. Roger provided a report from last year and asked the assessors present to pick the negatives and positives from the report. He also asked us to mark it based on what was written in the report and the running sheet. It was interesting to note that the marking range was fairly consistant with similar coaching points highlighted. A short discussion on the expectations for 2018 followed.

Sandro thanked the presenters and the assessors for their attendance and the day ended with participants networking before heading off home.